Want to Restore Sanity? Drop Fox! It Keeps Fear Alive

By Karl Frisch

Oct. 26, 2010--This Saturday, Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will hold simultaneous rallies on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. While Stewart is striving to “restore sanity” to our national dialogue, Colbert seeks to “keep fear alive,” playing his faux conservative television character to a tee.

The dueling themes remind me of a certain right-wing cable network.

Each day, Fox News “keeps fear alive” with a steady stream of false and misleading attacks on President Obama, progressive members of Congress, and policy initiatives like reforming health care, fixing the economy, and fighting climate change.

Fox hosts like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly play on the fears and prejudices of their audiences and help create a climate of uncertainty, paranoia, and hate. Network contributors like Sarah Palin, Karl Rove, and Newt Gingrich appear as political experts while trafficking in lies and misinformation.
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Editor: It is too bad Fox, et al. felt the need to bad-mouth the health care program that will clearly benefit a majority of Americans. The result was that elderly Americans were unnecessarily frightened and, thanks to Fox, thought the program was mandated and that they had to purchase it.
    Remember, the U.S. was the only developed country without universal health care. We will now take our place among the rest of the civilized world!